Bringing the Drama

friday night i went with a friend from work to go see Lynyrd Skynyrd and Hank Williams Jr. i know i know, but come on, how often do you get to attend something where you can witness such a spectacle? i knew the crowd would be unique, but i really had no idea. Skynyrd actually put on a good show, once you got past the hoakyness of it. the first song featured a duet type thing with Ronnie Van Sant, and for those of you scoring at home, he would be the original lead singer. the current lead singer is his brother Johnny, so it’s not like they’re trying to pull a Cherone for Hagar trade and hope you don’t notice. Of course they rolled through the classics like ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ and ‘Free Bird’. People, as i watched ‘Free Bird’, i thought to myself “i’m witnessing one of the greatest rock songs EVER being played.” it was outstanding, seriously, and they did the entire 10 minute version with the entire guitar solo and everything. I know there are just two original members left and all, but it still counts. Skynyrd’s set was worth the price of admission I thought, but luckily we were also going to be able to see Hank Jr. i use the term ‘luckily’ loosely in retrospect.

I was pretty tired after a week of working and not getting much sleep, so when Hank was playing songs i didn’t know, i was having a hard time staying awake. I really only knew a couple of his songs, one from karaoke at Clemson (‘A Country Boy Can Survive’), youtube (‘Family Tradition’), and of course his Monday Night Football song. He fell once, and almost did a second time. He talked a LOT. I lost track of what exactly he was talking about at one point and all i thinking was about how i wanted him to play ‘Family Tradition’ so we could leave. It was an interesting set, but not exactly burning the place down. He is a legend i guess, and he was able to go between rock, blues, country with ease, which was cool, but it just wasn’t a show to follow Skynyrd i didn’t think.

Now, about the crowd, I knew going in the crowd would be different, a lot of stereotypical Southern people i guess. Lots of NASCAR and confederate flags. Never before have i been to a show with such a stereotypical audience. Usually there are people at shows who break the mold of who you’d typically see, but Friday it was all the same, so I actually felt like a fish out of water, similarly to that time my dad and i went to see ZZ Top back when i was in high school.

Last Friday I went to see my cousin Jeffrey graduate from LSU. He was the type of guy who changed his major a bunch of times, never went to football games (I KNOW!), and we always joked “he’ll have to graduate someday, right?” I was so proud about how he stuck things out and finished a degree. The graduation was almost three hours, and I realized why I had fallen asleep during my own graduation. Anyway, it was a great day spent with family, and seeing Jeff become a college graduate.

The sad news of the same day was finding out Mike the Tiger had died. I remember when I was little my grandmother would take us over to campus to see the Tiger. Apparently when I was first going to see the Tiger, it was Mike IV. Anyway, Mike V died the day before graduation. My uncle said now that Jeff had graduated, Mike could die happy. After the graduation, I went over to the ‘habitat’ (because it’s not really a cage anymore, it’s pretty nice) and took a couple of pictures. I’m pretty proud of the one I got with the two little kids against the glass. It was totally unintentional, because I was just wanting a picture of the wreath and to catch up with the rest of my family on the way to a late lunch. there were a ton of people standing around because the graduation had just gotten out, and right when i went to take the picture, the two kids were standing there. Funny how things work out sometimes.

In other news, the grad school class I have been struggling with most of the semester finished up with a final that I really had no idea if it was really good or really bad. It was an ordeal just to get the thing turned in. I went up to office depot to fax it with about 45 min to spare. I browsed around the store afterward looking for a printer or something. I got home and had an email saying “please re-send your exam”. I tried calling only to get voice mail. I went back to OD to fax it again. Of course, the line was busy. the 4 pm deadline comes and the fax still had not gone through. I get them to scan it and I take it home to email. Email is down, so I have to gmail it. Gmail goes through at 15 after. No email, no notice, no anything about grades being posted even though we had continuously gotten emails about things like voting for Student Government. I was sweating the grade, because I had to make a B or better to avoid having to pay for the class myself (ie $2000). I put off checking the grade and kept saying “i haven’t gotten an email about the grades yet” to people who’d ask. Last night I had completed a great weekend, and figured I might as well check the grade since the weekend was over, and really, i’d be okay either way. So I checked the grade and i got a B. Never in my life have I been that happy to get a B!

there are very view television shows i make time to watch each week. i used to be a big fan of 24, but then when the writing went to crap earlier this season, i quit cold turkey. I’m sure Jack will save the world again, but I honestly don’t care how he does it anymore. one of the shows i started to enjoy this year was the hoaky CBS post nuke drama Jericho. I read today that CBS cancelled it. why? i thought it began to attract a cult kind of following, or at least an underground backing, meaning people who didn’t want to admit to liking it. it was not a very well acted show, and the plot line was known to get pretty far fetched, but it was like watching a train wreck, i could not pull myself away! sadly, now we’ll never have resolution to the ending of the finale from last week. we’ll never know what was on that train, we’ll never know if jake got the satisfaction of taking out constantino, we’ll never know if peyton manning was able to survive and live on with his bartender mistress, and what of the bald guy from murder one? maybe they can make a movie out of the material i’m sure they have left over. kind of like Serenity. one can only hope, because johnston greene should not die in vain!

this past week i took in two of the greatest shows i have seen this year. it’s been a while since i walked out of a show and thought “OMG WTF BBQ!” I went and saw Mute Math and Kings of Leon….not together (but wow would that show just blow your mind).

I had been waiting to see Mute Math when they had Club of the Sons open for them for probably a year? they had toured together last year, but did not play NOLA. Monday night they did, and it was great. I had seen COTS last summer, but Monday night they were much better. The Cinematics also helped open, and they were also great, living up to some hype i had read about them. the other opener (there were 3), someone still loves you boris yeltsin, were not so great. They played between the Cinematics and just before Mute Math, so really, it would have been tough for any band. They played a cover of the arrested development classic “Mr Wendel”, which was unfortunately lost on almost everyone in the HOB. I admired their effort, but i don’t think it worked like they wanted. Mute Math came out and from the opening chords owned the place. The show made me think of that time i saw them two years ago, when my life pretty much changed (not cause of the band but the people i met). that show just was ridiculous in its intensity and Monday night was right up there. then, after the show thanks to some guy being a jackass, I was ready to rumble to help my friend zach. How quickly things can change in two years. I have gone from having regular good friends to friends i’m ready to get in a street fight with.

Friday night, Jacob and I went to see the Kings of Leon. i really only knew 3 or 4 songs before. i had listened to the last two albums, but nothing really clicked except for a handful of songs. now i wish they had, because the show was incredible. they’re not all trying to be more than just a rock band. the crowd was amped up for the show and combined with the stellar band, it was a great show. the night was memorable also and after all was said and done, i got home at 4 am. somewhere mixed in, jacob and i wrote on the tour bus in the dust. i kind of wrote the address for corner table, so i figured i should get a review up as soon as possible. a quick rundown of the night was the show, the free pasta, the bar, the storage unit turned studio, and the drive home. did you know it’s okay to run redlights in bad neighborhoods? i do now.

with no shows i’m that excited about on the horizon, it was good to have two consecutive shows that could satisfy me until ryan adams announces some tour dates.

yesterday i went over to my friend thomas’ for grilling out. while there i found out that they have dvds for the cartoon Gummi Bears. i had no idea! i’m not sure why the guy who showed up would want to watch the gummi bears on dvd, but i was impressed that he has the option, you know?